Asia Economies Outperformed the Rest of the World in 1991

Asia’s robust economies outperformed the rest of the world in 1991, posting growth of more than 6% despite the recession in North America, the Asian Development Bank said recently.

Notable exceptions were Bangladesh, India and the Philippines, where growth slowed down significantly in 1991, the Manila-based bank said in a report.

“In contrast to previous world recessions, for instance the 1981-’82 recession, the economic performance of the Asian region has been less affected by the economic slowdown in industrialized countries,” the bank said.

The report said Asia had withstood the recession better this time around because domestic demand in many Asian countries had strengthened, along with regional trade.

While predicting a slowdown in Japanese growth to 3.3% in real gross national product in 1992 from 4.5% this year, the bank said the developing countries of Asia would continue to post strong growth.

The newly industrializing economies of Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea would see average growth fall slightly to 7.3% in 1992 from 7.7% this year, but other southeast and south Asian economies would expand faster, with the Indian economy picking up.

“Hong Kong should continue to see some acceleration in its growth rate mainly as a result of strong export demand and sizable increase in public investments for infrastructure,” the ADB said in an update to its annual Asian Development Outlook report.